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The Bridge of the Gods
Created almost a century and a half before the Great War, 'the Bridge of the Gods stills stretches over the Columbia River and provides passage north, though often at a price. The bridge is currently under the joint control of the Sons of Liberty and the Degenerates, who hope to restrict traffic from the NCR. History The bridge was completed by Wauna Toll Bridge Company, opened in 1926, and named after the historic geologic feature also known as Bridge of the Gods. Before the Great War, the Bridge of the Gods was largely used as a toll bridge until the Great War when society broke down. The Bridge of the Gods was left for quite a while after the war even as travelers and refugees passed over it. Even a couple of Army remnant convoys passed over it going north. It took about forty years for someone to finally take over the bridge while trying to exact tolls on travelers and early merchants. These people holding the bridge were survivors, desperate people hoping to get some extra food or water from tolls levied on travelers. This toll naturally made some people unhappy and in 2152, some more well-armed travelers killed the majority of the people on the bridge after refusing to pay the toll. The Bridge of the Gods was reoccupied for a short time by Cascadian merchants who thought they could make a some bank off of tolls. They built a small settlement near the bridge and also hired mercenaries as guards, both to try to intimidate travelers into pay the tolls and to not suffer the fate of the bridge's previous owners. This proved to be only a temporary solution as the merchants were driven off the bridge in 2161 by raiders. Merchants continued to try to occupy the Bridge of the Gods, attempting it in 2164, 2175, and 2191. Each time they were driven off or exterminated by predatory raiders except for in 2192. In 2192, a small group of super mutant drifters attempted to cross the Bridge of the Gods after the collapse of the Master's Army to the south. The leader of the merchants, an ardent bigot against all mutants, dragged out the process of the mutants' crossing and eventually led to a shootout between humans and mutants. The super mutants killed the guards with their miniguns and sacked the settlement around the bridge before heading north. It was never rebuilt. The Bridge of the Gods remained unoccupied for many years after even as traffic increased due to the rise of the NCR and civilization in Seattle. Raiders occasionally harassed travelers on the bridge but none wanted to try to occupy it for tolls, knowing the attention it might attract. Trade was dangerous but still free. The Bridge of Gods became even more valuable when Portland descended into complete chaos, and the bridge became one of the few safe crossings of the Columbia River. This only changed in 2267, during the Oregon Brushfire Wars. The Sons of Liberty, wanting to cut off NCR caravans going north, occupied the Bridge of the Gods. They did not initially levy tolls on passing caravans so the only people angry were NCR. This however changed in 2272 when the Sons of Liberty set up an official outpost on the bridge and a toll booth. This angered many caravaners not even associated with the NCR and drove them to eventually hire some Badlanders from the Twin Pines Pack to dislodge the toll booth in 2278. That attempt was unsuccessful, but the one by the FNA in late 2278 and another in 2279 were successful in taking the bridge. The toll booth was torn down and from 2279 to 2284, trade over the Bridge of the Gods was open to all. However, the bridge was retaken by the Sons of Liberty in 2284 and has remained in their hands ever since. They quickly rebuilt the outpost on the bridge and been enacting tolls once again. When some caravaners tried to use former Badlanders, the Degenerates, to dislodge the Sons, the mercenaries actually joined the Sons of Liberty in their vigil protecting the bridge. Since then, there have been no successful attempts by the FNA or caravaners to take the Bridge of the Gods and it is still under the control of the Sons of Liberty, headed by the gunslinger Dean "Bean" Larson. Currently, the Bridge of the Gods still stands defiant over the Columbia River, in remarkable condition taking into accounts the bridge's centuries of existence and the numerous battles that have occurred on it. An outpost is situated near the middle of the Bridge of the Gods. It is heavily fortified and guarded by about ten Sons of Liberty around the clock. The other Sons of Liberty and the Degenerates are camped out just south of the bridge but still keep a watchful eye, mindful of many possible dangers from vertibird bombings to tribal infiltrators. Category:Places Category:Sites Category:Cascadia